FIG. 225. DEVIL'S COACH HORSE.
BEETLES (Coleoptera). Beetles form one of the most extensive orders of insects, there being upwards of 3000 known British species. They vary much in appearance, but a Beetle is readily recognised by its front wings, or elytra; these form a tough horny sheath or case, which lies over the real wings, and protects them when the insect is not flying. Sometimes, the elytra are very short (see Fig. 225); the mouth is fitted with jaws for cutting. The metamorphosis is complete, i.e., the larva or grub is very unlike either the quiescent pupa or the perfect insect. The period that elapses before Beetles arrive at their perfect state varies from a few weeks to two or three years, but is usually rather longer than in Butterflies or Bees. Various Beetles attack growing plants and roots. Thus, Otiorhynchus sulcatus and O. picipes attack Vines, Roses, and other plants, gnawing off the bark. Some species of Beetles attack Mushrooms, while others bore into the wood of old trees, or eat leaves (e.g. Turnip Fly), or burrow in the leaves, or form galls on roots (Cabbage-gall Weevil). Of some kinds, the beetles are hurtful; of others, the larvæ. Many kinds, however, are beneficial, such, for instance, as the common Ground Beetle (Carabus, Fig. 224), and the Devil's Coach Horse (Ocypus olens, Fig. 225). These live upon other insects and snails. One kind of Beetle—the Ladybird (see Figs. 226 and 227)—is very beneficial in a garden, as it preys upon the aphides, or plant lice. For instructions in dealing with the noxious kinds, see [Asparagus Beetle,] [Bean Beetle,] [Beet Carrion Beetle,] Click Beetle, Cockchafer, Lily Beetle, Rosechafer, and Turnip Fly.
FIG. 226. SEVEN-SPOTTED LADYBIRD. FIG. 227. GRUB OF LADYBIRD. (Enlarged).
BEET or MANGOLD FLY (Anthomyia betæ). The maggots of this fly do considerable damage by feeding on the pulp of the Beet or Mangold leaves. The eggs are small, white, and oval, and are laid in small patches beneath the leaves; the maggots are about ⅓in. long, legless, cylindrical, and yellowish-white. As it is of such recent appearance in this country, specifics for its eradication are by no means numerous; but, according to Miss Ormerod, "the best treatment appears to be to nip it in the bud, where such treatment is possible, by destroying the infested plants, but generally by all means of good cultivation, or by special applications of artificial manure, to ensure a hearty growth, which may run the plants on past the power of average attacks to weaken the leafage to a serious extent."
BEFARIA (named in honour of Bejar, a Spanish botanist). ORD. Ericareæ. SYN. Bejaria. An elegant genus of greenhouse evergreen shrubs, closely allied to Rhododendron. Flowers bracteate; corolla very deeply seven-cleft, spreading. Leaves racemose or corymbose, crowded, quite entire, coriaceous. They thrive in a compost of peat and loam. Propagated by cuttings, made of the young wood, and placed in sandy soil, in gentle heat.
B. æstuans (glowing).* fl. purple; corymbs terminal, simple; peduncles, pedicels, rachi, calyces, and branchlets clothed with clammy glandular hairs. l. elliptic, rather glabrous above, but downy and glaucous beneath, while young clothed with rusty tomentum. Plant much branched; branchlets sub-verticillate. h. 10ft. to 15ft. Peru, 1846. SYN. Acunna oblonga. (G. C. 1848, 119.)
B. cinnamomea (cinnamon-coloured). fl. purple; panicles close, terminal; peduncles woolly, hispid. l. slightly downy above, rusty tomentose beneath. Branches downy, hispid. h. 4ft. Peru, 1847.
B. coarctata (close-headed). fl. purple; corymbs terminal, simple; peduncles, pedicels, rachi, and calyces clothed with rusty tomentum. l. oblong, glabrous, glaucous beneath. Shrub much branched. h. 4ft. to 5ft. Peru, 1847. (G. C. 1848, 175.)
B. glauca (glaucous).* fl. flesh-coloured; racemes terminal and axillary; pedicels somewhat fastigiate. June. l. oblong, obtuse, glaucous beneath. Shrub much branched; branchlets angular. h. 3ft. to 6ft. South America, 1826.
B. ledifolia (Ledum-leaved).* fl. purple; racemes terminal; peduncles, pedicels, rachi, branchlets, and calyces clothed with clammy glandular hairs. l. oblong, somewhat mucronate, with revolute edges, glaucous beneath, glandular. Shrub much branched; branches purplish. h. 3ft. to 4ft. South America, 1847. (F. d. S. 3, 195.)
B. racemosa (racemed). fl. purple, disposed in racemose terminal panicles. July. l. ovate-lanceolate, glabrous; branchlets smooth or hispid. h. 3ft. to 5ft. Georgia, 1810.
BEGONIA (named after M. Begon, a French patron of botany). ORD. Begoniaceæ. A large genus of succulent herbs or undershrubs (a few climbers), in many of which the stem is reduced to a tuberous rhizome, whilst some are distinctly tuberous. Flowers usually showy and large, white, rose, scarlet, or yellow, unisexual; perianth segments petaloid, four to five divisions, rarely two. Stamens numerous, filaments free or united at the base. Ovary inferior, styles two to four, free, sometimes connate, stigmas brandied or twisted. Fruit capsular, rarely succulent, often winged. Seeds numerous, minute. Leaves alternate, more or less unequal-sided, entire, or lobed, or toothed. Flower-stalks axillary, cymose. Distribution: Species about 350, in all tropical moist countries, especially South America and India; not known in Australia. Cultivated species (exclusive of garden hybrids and varieties) about 150. A large number of genera, or what were considered as such are now merged in Begonia—viz., Barya, Baryandra, Casparya, Pritzelia, &c. The rich colours and beautiful form of the flowers of Begonias, their prettily-marked foliage, and free-growing, free-blooming nature, have long marked them out as favourite garden plants. Within the last twenty years a new race, characterised by a tuberous root-stock, annual herbaceous stem, and large handsome flowers, has been introduced from the Andes of South America, from which, by means of careful cross-fertilisation and selection, a large number of beautiful and almost hardy kinds have been raised. The size, substance, and rich colours of the flowers of the majority of the plants of this race of Begonias are witness to what may be done by skilful cultivation and careful cross-breeding among plants. In the same way the large-leaved, stemless section, of which B. Rex may be taken as the type and principal progenitor, have been improved both in the size and the coloration of their foliage, and countless forms are now in cultivation, both as garden plants and for the decoration of rooms, &c. The propagation of Begonias may be accomplished by means of seeds, which are freely produced by almost all the cultivated kinds, by cuttings, by division of the rhizomes, and—in the case of the large-leaved kinds—by leaf-cuttings. For the first of these methods it is necessary that the seeds should be well ripened before they are gathered, and kept dry until sown. Where it is desired to increase any particular kind of garden origin, seeds are useless, none of the hybrid or seedling forms perpetuating themselves through their seeds, although equally beautiful sorts may be raised from them. The characters of all true species are, however, reproduced in their seedlings. For the successful raising of Begonia seeds it is necessary to sow them on pans or pots of well-drained, light, sandy soil, which should be well watered before the seeds are sown. The seeds should not be covered with soil, or they will fail to germinate. Over the pans a pane of glass should be placed, and they should then be stood in warm house or a frame where a temperature of about 65deg. can be maintained, and shaded from sunshine. As soon as the plantlets are large enough to be safely manipulated, they should be pricked off into pans of light leaf-mould soil, in which they may remain until large enough to be placed singly in pots. Cuttings: These strike freely if planted in small pots, in sand and leaf mould, and placed on a bottom heat of 70deg. Where large quantities are required, a bed of cocoa nut-fibre in a stove or propagating frame may be used, and in this the cuttings may be planted and remain until well rooted. Leaf cuttings succeed best when laid on sand or cocoa-nut fibre, and shaded from bright sunlight. In preparing the leaves, old, well-matured ones should be selected, and incisions made with a sharp knife across the principal nerves on the underside. They should then be placed on the sand or fibre and held down by means of a few pieces of crock. Under this treatment, bulbils will form on the lower ends of the nerves of each section of the leaf, and these, when large enough, may be removed from the bed and potted. With the exception of B. Evansiana (discolor), an almost hardy species from North China, all the shrubby species require a warm or intermediate house for their cultivation, although during the summer months a frame or sheltered bed answers for most of them, provided they are removed into their warm winter quarters on the approach of cold weather. Some of the species, such as B. Dregei, B. semperflorens, B. nitida, B. fuchsioides, B. Lindleyana, B. Richardsiana, along with the hybrids Ascotensis, Knowsleyana, Weltoniensis, and Ingramii, are grown in pots out of doors all the summer, and under liberal treatment they form large handsome specimens, which are of great value as flowering plants for the conservatory in winter. The tuberous-rooted herbaceous kinds should be started in heat in February, and, when vigorous growth has commenced, be gradually hardened off, for use either as bedding plants or as pot specimens for flowering in the greenhouse. A mixture of loam and leaf mould with a little sand and rotten cow-dung is suitable for the cultivation of these plants in pots. Liberal supplies of water should be given during the growing season. As the growth decays, water should be withheld until finally the tubers may be shaken out of the soil and placed in dry sand or cocoa-nut fibre, in a house or shed where a temperature above freezing can be maintained. B. gracilis and its varieties, diversifolia and Martiana, are beautiful greenhouse plants, which thrive well if treated as advised for the other tuberous-rooted kinds, with the addition of a few more degrees of heat.